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Grand finale - Johan showing off

Grand finale - Johan showing off

The last race of a motorsport season is always something very special. Even more when it´s time for the final of one of the most spectacular racing series in the world: the World Rallycross Championship, the WRX.

Christopher Otto is the motorsport expert from the newsroom of vau-max.de. The 45-year old feels quite at home at race tracks all over the world. He’s a regular at DTM, GT-runs, and TCR-events. Before the Berlin native has been writing as writer and photographer for numerous car magazines. He flew down to South Africa for the final show down and sent us his report directly from Cape Town about the event on the weekend.

Kristoffersson with constant performance

Rallycross - that's a motorsport world of its own. Here the spectators still get to see true racing and ambitious fights. The events are completely tailored to the visitors with short, crispy sessions, compact routes and a lot of fan nearness. The small race cars with up to 570 hp and four-wheel drive contribute their part of the worldwide enthusiasm. In Germany the fan base is growing steadily, too. For us the perfect opportunity, to watch the final of the WRX in Cape Town live on Killarny Raceway.

After all, the PSRX team from Sweden is very successful this year with the Polo in this highly competitive championship. Thanks to a consistent performance throughout the season, PSRX driver Johan Kristoffersson was already certain as the old and new champion.

Our author Christopher Otto in the Volkswagen garage, right in front of Petter Solbergs company car.

Champion Johan Kristoffersson: Missed Fridays "Shakedown" and delivered a track record right on the spot on Saturday.

While the legendary Petter Solberg fought for the second place in the championship yet.

Delivery with delay for two company cars

However, the team around Kristoffersson and Solberg had the first shock moment long before the first wheel turned. Due to bad weather, the delivery of the two Polo and the entire equipment by ship was delayed so much that even on Friday the garages in the pit lane were still empty.

Heavy weather on the Atlantic and delayed delivery of the vehicles caused a little bit of hectic for the team on Friday night.

In the evening, when the freighter could finally be unloaded, the team had missed the 'Shakedown', the first test drive of the weekend. Actually a clear disadvantage, but the experienced team and especially the pilots could compensate quickly. And 'quickly' is to be taken literally: On Saturday champion Johan Kristoffersson climbed into his car and drove the best time in the first session immediately.

Especially Kristoffersson let the Polo fly, that it was a real treat, not only for motorsport fans.

The secret of the Swede

In this style, the two Volkswagen drivers then continued throughout the weekend. The secret of the Swede: his excellent start, which immediately gets him away from his oponents and therefor out of danger. “It´s not just about reaction speed, but also an interaction of many factors. Only if everything fits perfectly, you can put the power on the road”, Johan describes the process. Just how important such a good start is can already be seen in the four qualifying rounds.

Everything, that carries countless penalties in the Formula One or DTM, is common courtesy and can hardly be avoided on the narrow courses.

Especially in the highest class of the series, the Supercars, grown motorsport legends like Petter Solberg, ex-DTM champions Mathias Ekström and Timo Scheider or multi-rally world champion Sebastian Loeb are sitting behind the steering wheels.

Flight show by Petter Solberg.

And there's the sensational engine sound and the sheer power of the two-liter turbos. It lets the supercars drift on gravel as well as on asphalt through the tightest corners.

Drama about “Mr. Hollywood”

After Kristoffersson had nothing burned in the qualifying runs and in the semifinal, he was sure of the pole position in the final. With his team-mate Petter Solberg, the Swedish Audi driver Ekström and Peugeot pilot Sebastian Loeb several rally heavyweights were in the final, and the drivers were hellbent on winning before the winter break.

But the Swede Kristoffersson wasn´t impressed in any second. He made a dream start once again and beat all rivals in the first corner. His team-mate Solberg won second place and bravely kept the others in check. While Kristoffersson took the lead, Solberg was under extreme pressure. In the second round, suddenly a murmur went through the crowd: the sympathetic Norwegian had slowed down and turned from track through a technical defect. Thus, the hopes for a second place were gone. The disappointed ex-champion, who is also called 'Mr. Hollywood' for his easily being, got quickly to safety.

The master’s moonwalk

Meanwhile Kristoffersson´s rivals had nothing to laugh about. At no point in the race the Polo driver did raise doubts about his superiority in Cape Town. He brought the start-finish victory and thus another triumph confidently home.

The two stars Ekström (Audi) and Loeb (Peugeot) had to be satisfied with the second and third place. Solberg, the winner of the fastest reaction time at the start, was also on the podium and made the World Cup final 2018 perfect for Volkswagen. And the normally controlled Swede Kristoffersson celebrated his victory and the championship with great emotions and a little moonwalk.

The specified fuel consumption and emission data have been determined according to the measurement procedures prescribed by law. Since 1st September 2017, certain new vehicles are already being type-approved according to the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), a more realistic test procedure for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Starting on September 1st 2018, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will be replaced by the WLTP in stages. Owing to the more realistic test conditions, the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions measured according to the WLTP will, in many cases, be higher than those measured according to the NEDC. For further information on the differences between the WLTP and NEDC, please visit www.volkswagen.de/wltp.

We are currently still required by law to state the NEDC figures. In the case of new vehicles which have been type-approved according to the WLTP, the NEDC figures are derived from the WLTP data. It is possible to specify the WLTP figures voluntarily in addition until such time as this is required by law. In cases where the NEDC figures are specified as value ranges, these do not refer to a particular individual vehicle and do not constitute part of the sales offering. They are intended exclusively as a means of comparison between different vehicle types. Additional equipment and accessories (e.g. add-on parts, different tyre formats, etc.) may change the relevant vehicle parameters, such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, and, in conjunction with weather and traffic conditions and individual driving style, may affect fuel consumption, electrical power consumption, CO2 emissions and the performance figures for the vehicle.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide on the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new passenger car models”, which is available free of charge at all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de.